Just So Unnecessary

[poliphilo]

I know this is frightfully English of me, but I don't see why we can't debate our differences- and do it stringently, wittily, hilariously- without having recourse to personal insult. What do you gain by calling someone an ape? Or for that matter banging on about small hands and peculiar hairstyles? Nothing that serves your cause.

Insult raises the heat, widens the gulf, lowers the tone. And sometimes- as Roseanne Barr just found out- your carelessly aimed stone can bounce off an opponent's tin roof and strike you full in the gob.